"Bring the sand table."
Cao Rui waved his hand slightly, and Xu Shu, who was following behind him, turned around and walked towards the camp. The four tiger guards each lifted a corner and moved a huge sand table from the car that had not yet been disassembled.
The emperor and his ministers gathered around the sand table. Xu Shu squatted on the ground and made some adjustments. Then the Liao River, Liao Tunnel, Xiangping, Liaokou and other places appeared on the sand table.
Man Chong found a long wormwood stick near the river bank and drew several lines of varying thickness on the ground beside the sand table:
"Xu Huang's circuitous route was this: he first went north along the Yellow River, crossed the river westward, and then went south, making a big circle."
Then, Man Chong took the stick and pointed at several key places on the sand table: "The moat on the east bank of the Liao River is nearly 30 miles long. Liaodong has no shortage of horses. There must be cavalry behind them relying on their horse speed to defend. The speed of crossing the river cannot match the speed of the enemy cavalry."
"Or go north." Man Chong followed the trace of the west bank of Liaoshui River on the sand table and rowed all the way there: "Fill the soil in Liaoze to make a road and go around it in the north."
"Or head south, towards Liaokou."
Cao Rui sighed softly, "When Emperor Wu was at Tongguan, he didn't have the wisdom to draw on like I do today. Jia Wenhe and Xun Gongda were all wise men, and I have Man, Sima, Xu, and Pei by my side today. But I don't know who can compare to Xu Gongming, a natural brave general."
If you can't choose a general who can fight like a god, then you can only compare the degree of organization! Can you still lose to Gongsun Yuan in this matter?
Cao Rui asked softly, "I remember it was written on the map that the Liao River's mouth where it flows into the sea is fifty miles from here, right?"
Man Chong nodded: "Exactly fifty miles."
"Pei Qing, Lu Qing."
"I am here." Pei Qian and Lu Yu, two attendants, answered at the same time.
Cao Rui said: "I order you two to be military supervisors, each of you to lead 6,000 infantrymen to find and open up a path for the army."
"Who of you wants to go south, and who wants to go north?"
To the south is Liaokou, and to the north is Liaoze. One in the south and one in the north, it is obvious that the degree of hardship and merit are different.
Pei Qian can still remember the scene two days ago.
At that time, Pei Qian sent one cavalryman and one infantryman with long ropes tied around their waists into the southernmost swamp of Liaoze. They had walked less than ten feet when they saw that the solid grassy land suddenly became soft. The war horses neighed and sank into the mud. The more they struggled, the faster they fell.
Going north to Liaoze is even more difficult, but going south is a smooth journey.
Pei and Lu looked at each other, but answered in unison: "It's up to your majesty to assign."
"Well then," Cao Rui said, "Lu Qing will lead the three commanders Zhao, Cheng, and Du to head north, enter Liaoze, build a dike to the north, and find a passage through Liaoze."
"Pei Qing, please supervise the three commanders Zheng, Chunyu, and Zhou to head south. Repair the road to Liaokou and ensure the logistical needs of the army here."
"According to the order!"
Pei Qian and Lu Yu each agreed, and Cao Rui turned to look at Man Chong.
"Since this battle is like the battle of Tongguan in the past, what I should do is to bluff here and pretend to attack to attract the enemy troops here. General Man, what should we do here?"
Man Chong stroked his beard for a moment, and looked at Liaosui City on the other side of the river. He said slowly and firmly, "Your Majesty, there are three things we should do here."
"First, we should build many camps and set up many flags to show the grandeur of the army."
"Second, order the soldiers to cut down trees and build a pontoon bridge, and then build a catapult to suppress the other side, and make feint attacks from time to time."
"Third, we should send envoys to the enemy troops on the east bank to persuade them to surrender. As the roads on both sides progress, we should gradually relax the language and make the hostile forces arrogant."
"Then do it." Cao Rui stretched his body and said, "In a few days, I will go to Liaokou to see the sea in person!"
……
The number of troops is over ten thousand and boundless.
When Cao Rui led his army to the city for the first time, Gongsun Yan and Bei Yan in Liaosui City did not dare to rush into battle, but urged the soldiers to repair the trenches and city defenses as soon as possible.
Early morning two days later.
On the watchtower that was perfectly built on the top of Liaosui City, the old Liaodong general Gongsun Yan looked at the Wei army camp on the west bank of the Liaoshui River, a deep furrow appeared between his brows.
In the morning mist, several large camps of the Wei army were lined up along the east bank of the Liao River, like an indescribable beast with its arms outstretched. Piles of freshly felled wood were piled on the river bank, and soldiers were already building simple docks and rafts by the river.
"General," Gongsun Yan's originally gray hair had turned completely white in the past few days. When he turned around, the armor on his body clanged:
"When you arrived at Liaosui five days ago, you said that reinforcements from Xiangping were being prepared. Five days have passed, why haven't you seen even a messenger?"
Bei Yan received the order from Xiangping and came here. He was under great pressure. On the one hand, he had to take care of defense, and on the other hand, he had to support Gongsun Yan and retreat in time when he couldn't hold on.
Gongsun Yan was not the only one who saw the Wei army's formation on the west bank of the Liao River. Bei Yan certainly saw it as well.
He knew everything, but he could do nothing.
Bei Yan continued to perfunctorily say: "General Gongsun, don't worry. The Wei army hasn't started the attack yet. I brought all 10,000 cavalry from Xiangping. We can hold out for a while anyway." "The lord should still be training the army in Xiangping. Let's wait a little longer."
Gongsun Yan had no choice but to go down the tower and sit on a small stool, sighing: "I am not afraid of the Wei army, I am just worried about the war."
"Hongyi, the Liaodong cavalry are all under your command, and you know the current situation of the army. When Cao Gong attacked Liucheng, the former lord had already killed the two Yuans out of fear and presented their heads to us."
"This time the Emperor of Wei has come in person, and the proclamation has been sent from the other side. Even the Sun and Liu families are hard to stop, so how can I expect to resist the Wei army with such a small force?"
"If the lord's reinforcements don't arrive, the situation will be very bad!"
Bei Yan looked at Gongsun Yan's sad face and could only use perfunctory words to comfort him. At the same time, he secretly made up his mind that if he really encountered an unexpected situation, he would risk his life to rescue General Gongsun.
By the afternoon, the wood from various places was finally put together to build a floating bridge.
Former general Man Chong personally ordered Tian Yu's troops to cross the river eastward along the newly built floating bridge. The distance between the river and the embankment was about 100 feet, and before Tian Yu could reach the edge of the embankment, he was pushed back by a hail of arrows from Gongsun Yan's troops.
Charge again, retreat again. Charge three times, retreat three times.
After three attacks, Tian Yu's troops retreated calmly, and even had time to tidy up and store the pontoon bridge during the retreat.
In the military tent in the main camp, Tian Yu came personally to report the battle situation to Man Chong.
"General, our troops charged the trench three times, but were shot back by the enemy's arrows each time. I have observed the enemy's arrows and found that they numbered only about 500, no more."
"And the enemy did not dare to leave the camp to fight."
Man Chong stroked his beard and frowned, saying, "Your troops are crossing the river ten miles south of Liaosui City today. With three attacks, the enemy has enough time to dispatch cavalry."
"But the enemy never dared to come out of the camp to fight. Either the defenders were cowardly and had no confidence, or the enemy had few cavalry."
Tian Yu hesitated for a moment: "Could it be that the enemy is waiting for us to pass through the camp?"
"No!" Man Chong said firmly: "Although there is only one pontoon bridge today, 3,000 people are enough to stand on the beach. Now that the position is established, there is enough room for thousands more people to come over."
“They don’t dare to gamble!”
Tian Yu cupped his hands and said, "If so, once the equipment is ready, we can try crossing the river in two or three ways. Who knows, it might work wonders!"
Man Chong nodded and said, "The enemy is behaving so abnormally. Let's investigate further. It's too early to draw conclusions now. I will send someone to ask for permission from His Majesty later and see what the next move will be."
While Man Chong was in charge of the central army camp, Cao Rui brought Sima Yi, Xu Shu, and other entourage to Liaokou, 50 miles south of the camp.
"Is there already a wharf at Liaokou? I seem to remember that Liaodong has always sailed by sea to the peninsula further south, right?"
Pei Qian, who arrived here yesterday, stood behind Cao Rui and said, "Liaokou has never been a major transportation point, but it is far away from other cities and sea vessels can reach Liaosui City via the Liao River."
"From a geographical point of view, the Liao River turns eastward at Liaokou, and the west bank where we are is suitable for building a wharf."
Cao Rui nodded slightly, then looked up at the twenty ships temporarily anchored in the bay outside the dock.
Sima Yi came forward and said, "The army needs about 150,000 dan of grain and fodder per month, and each flat-bottomed sea vessel can carry 1,500 dan. As long as five fleets can deliver grain and fodder to Liaokou every month, it will be enough to supply the army with grain and fodder."
Pei Qian also took a half step forward: "What Sikong said is very true. After I arrived at Liaokou yesterday, I have carefully checked the details of the ships, and none of them have encountered any accidents or crises. The coast of Bohai is conducive to shipping, which is different from the dangerous seas east of Qing and Xuzhou."
"Your Majesty, the one in charge of supervising the transportation of grain and grass this time is Imperial Censor Pei Hui. If we talk about the details, he knows more clearly than I do."
Cao Rui glanced at Pei Qian, then at Sima Yi who was interrupted by Pei Qian, and said with a smile: "Mr. Pei is a talented person. I also want to meet this Pei Wenji."
"Xuan Pei Hui."
The two tiger guards rode out on their horses, and soon Pei Hui also came back on horseback.
Seeing Pei Hui bowing respectfully, Cao Rui nodded and said, "I already have a Pei Qing by my side, and today another Pei Qing is here."
"Minister Xin is in charge of all affairs in Quanzhou. Is there anything unusual?"
Pei Hui thought that the emperor would ask him about sea transportation, but he did not expect that the emperor would ask Xin Pi right away without mentioning sea transportation.
Pei Hui replied respectfully, "Your Majesty, Lord Xin is running everything smoothly in Quanzhou, and the grain and grass are being collected and dispatched in time. The Shangshutai is handling official business in Yecheng, and Lu Shijun of Jizhou is also on his way to Hejian County to supervise the transportation."
"With Lord Xin in the north, Lord Lu in the center, and the officials of the Secretariat in the south, everything can be coordinated properly."
It’s not that Cao Rui didn’t care about transporting grain by sea, but the waves in the Bohai Sea were not strong. How difficult could it be to transport grain from Tianjin in later generations to Liaoning along the coastline?
Cao Rui would only be interested in asking for details if someone in Wei could really replicate the route that Sun Quan took to send ships to Liaodong.
It's just something that should be done well. (End of this chapter)
